The present invention relates to wire harnesses and more particularly to a method and mold for assembling and forming a wire harness.
Current vehicles include numerous wire harnesses interconnecting an increasing number of electrical components to user-activated and computer-controlled switches and sensors. Each wire harness comprises a plurality of wires which are bundled to form a main trunk and a plurality of branches extending from the trunk. Typically, each of the branches includes an electrical connector at an outer end.
During assembly of wire harnesses, the wire bundles are held together in an assembly jig, which includes a plurality of wire supports supporting the wires along each of the main trunk and each of the branches. Each wire is placed into the assembly jig onto the appropriate wire supports, i.e. from a first branch at one end of the wire harness, through the main trunk and through a second branch, typically at an opposite end of the wire harness. Electrical connectors are then connected to the outer ends of the wires at the branches. The wires are then wrapped with tape along the entire length of the main trunk and each of the branches.
Plastic tubes or sleeves are often secured around the bundled wires in selected locations to protect against mechanical wear caused by vibration. Foam sheets are often wrapped and taped about the bundles in selected areas to provide damping and reduce noise. Fasteners, such as christmas tree connectors, are secured to the bundled wires with the wrapped tape. Rubber gaskets are secured to selected portions of the bundled wires in order to provide water seals at selected locations. Branch identifiers, such as tape labels are often wrapped about the branches near the connectors in order to identify the branch so it is properly mounted and connected.
United Technologies Automotive has developed a new wire harness in which the wires are encased in a molded foam sheath. This is described in more detail in co-pending application U.S. Ser. No. 08/898,663, filed on Jul. 22, 1997 entitled "FOAMED-IN WIRE HARNESSES." Improvements are more fully disclosed in other co-pending applications: "WIRE HARNESS WITH INTEGRAL CONNECTOR" filed on Aug. 29, 1997 and assigned U.S. Ser. No. 08/920,768; "APPARATUS FOR CENTERING WIRE HARNESS IN MOLD" filed on Aug. 29, 1998 and assigned U.S. Ser. No. 08/920,458; "WIRE HARNESS WITH SPLICE LOCATORS" filed on Aug. 29, 1998 and assigned U.S. Ser. No. ; "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SECURING WIRE HARNESS TO SURFACE" filed on and assigned U.S. Ser. No. 08/920,978; "MULTISHOT MOLDS FOR MANUFACTURING WIRE HARNESS" filed on Aug. 29, 1997 and assigned U.S. Ser. No. 08/920,857; "FOAM WIRE HARNESS WITH SHAPE MEMORY" filed on Aug. 29, 1997 and assigned U.S. Ser. No. 08/920,570.
The development of this technology has led to additional challenges and benefits. For example, for large wire harnesses with many branches, it is difficult and time consuming to move the assembled wire harness to the mold for molding the foam sheath about the bundled wires.